


in between the moon and you

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren (Comics), The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Babysitting, Ben Solo is a Mess, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship Ben Solo/Tai, Teenagers, Young Ben Solo, background Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29076411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: Luke asks Ben to babysit for the night. Ben would rather do anything else.
Relationships: Grogu | Baby Yoda & Ben Solo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	in between the moon and you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lucymonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucymonster/gifts).



"I have a task for you."

Ben made an effort to stand up straight. His robes were getting small on him again, and there hadn't been time to purchase or sew new ones to cover his gangling legs. Slouching was not the Jedi way, but it did keep Voe from teasing him about his bare shins.

"Yes, Master Skywalker," he said, only tripping a moment on the name. "Uncle Luke" was ever on the tip of his tongue, waiting to be spoken instead of the honorific. Ben had never been expected to call his mother by any of her titles, even on formal occasions and it still caught him up sliding between the familiar relationship and the distant teacher-student one they'd been building over the last two years.

Uncle Luke immediately broke this formality with a tender smile more suited to a family dinner, as though he were listening to Ben go on about a day spent with a playmate, or Ben's dad talking about his last job to Ryloth with Uncle Chewie.

"It's not Jedi business. I'd like you to watch Grogu for the evening."

The slouch returned. "I thought his dad was here." Grogu's adoptive father had been spending a great deal of time visiting the school lately. The old scrolls said that kind of attachment was trouble, and Master Tano tutted every time the subject came up. Uncle Luke never argued with her, but he would always find Ben wherever he was standing, and float one of those smiles at him, and say he wasn't worried. Djarin could come and go as he pleased.

"He is, but we're heading out for several hours. Grogu needs someone to keep an eye on him, and I think you've shown you're responsible."

Ben had spent years learning from his mother when she was complimenting someone to get her way, and Uncle Luke wasn't as good at it as she was. There was no use arguing. "All right."

Another pleased smile. "Thanks, Ben. We won't be out all night."

Uncle Luke made sure Ben knew where all the safety devices were, and knew what time his tiny classmate needed to be fed and sent to bed, and wished him a good evening. Ben watched him go off with Grogu's dad with the weirdest certainty they'd just gone off on a date. Master Tano would be very displeased, but she wasn't here, and Ben was, and so was the short, green padawan who'd just been given into his care.

"Hi," said Ben. Grogu looked up from his toys and waved. "Master Skywalker says I'm to watch you tonight." Grogu went back to his toys, ignoring him. Almost sixty years old, and he didn't speak, but Ben and the others could understand what the child meant. Master Tano could relate long stories from him. Uncle Luke could more or less keep up with what he meant. Master Bridger got headaches. At the moment Ben was picking up a large sense of disinterest. Ben picked him up anyway, pausing for a second to let Grogu wrap one clawed hand around a single small ball to take with them.

Unbidden, thoughts of his own father came to him. What would Dad do if someone dropped the responsibility of taking care of a little Jedi into his lap?

He'd make it someone else's problem. Ben merely had to find someone foolish enough to agree.

He carried Grogu out of the small building and through the set of structures that made up this school. Ben had helped his uncle construct many of them upon their arrival here, and as the school had grown, the other students had pitched in, building sleeping quarters, and a library, and a dining facility. Some of the buildings were quite small, like the one Grogu shared with Uncle Luke, which Ben had slept in with them when they'd first arrived. There were three training dojos, and these were the largest buildings. Some connected to each other, leaning against one another's walls like old friends, or connected via roofed-over walkways that jinked and tilted. Ben had seen what remained of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant during one visit with his mother, had seen the graceful corridors and vaulting ceilings, and level after level of living areas, study halls, practice gyms, meeting rooms, and more. Uncle Luke could have taken his new school there and set up, and no one would have objected. Instead, they'd built the new home of the restored Jedi Order here on this verdant, quiet world, and students had come.

Some, of course, only came part time.

The smallest training dojo was in use, someone inside using the space to practice lightsaber forms. Ben could hear the hum and slice from out here, and sense the hand that guided the blade. He waited until the sound paused before stepping inside.

"What do you want, Ben?" asked Jacen flatly. Ben had never learned his mother's trick for hiding his emotions away from his face, and he felt the flinch catch him out before he could smooth it away.

"Master Skywalker is away this evening and needs someone to watch Grogu." Ben had considered his words carefully on the way here. One of Jacen's gifts was truth-hearing. Lying to him directly wouldn't work.

"And?" Jacen picked up one of the towels at the edge of the practice area and dried the sweat from his face and chest while Ben tried not to stare. The older boy had grown into his previously-gawky looks about a year ago, coinciding with the time Ben had begun noticing the attractive traits of all his classmates. It had also coincided with the time an awkward growth spurt of his own changed the babyish features of his childhood into some angular, warped face he was still getting used to in the mirror. It wasn't fair.

"And he needs a babysitter."

"Do I look like a nanny droid to you? You watch him." His voice stayed cold, and Ben thought back to their last sparring match when his own temper had gone too far and he'd said things he shouldn't have. He could apologize now.

Grogu looked at him, his large, dark eyes expectant. Ben got the feeling that's exactly what the child wanted him to do. "What do you know about it?" he asked, glaring at the kid in his arms.

"What'd he say?" Jacen's voice stayed wary, but curious. He'd never been able to get more than a vague read from Grogu.

"He says he thinks you're a jerk, too." Grogu made a soft, cooing noise in objection.

"Yeah, fine. I'm busy, Ben, and he's not supposed to be around lightsabers without one of the Masters present. I have to get this right. I'm leaving next week."

"You don't say," said Ben, voice dripping with as much sarcasm as he could. Jacen was going off to flight school, which he only mentioned four or five times a day. "Come on, Grogu. He needs his practice. If he'd come to school more often, he might know what he's doing." Ben stalked out of the dojo before he let his mouth run himself into the same trouble as last time. Apologies could wait.

Nanny droid. Ha. Ben had had a wonderful nanny droid. Jacen's had been a scary astromech who still caused chaos when his family dropped by to pick him up or drop him off again.

Ben's feet turned abruptly. The school's library was the home of most of their computer systems. The rest of the settlement might be primitive yet homey, but the library had been built from duracrete and had a solid durasteel roof to protect the delicate equipment. It was also the favored resting spot of the school's main droid.

"Artoo," Ben called as he stepped into the library. "Where are you?"

Uncle Luke's droid whistled and beeped a hello from his charging station. Ben smiled instinctively. While C-3PO had lived with his family, Uncle Luke and R2-D2 had visited often, and he'd spent his childhood listening to the two droids bickering amiably through the corridors of the house where he'd grown up.

Ben set Grogu down. He tilted his head up at Ben, then ambled over to Artoo. The droid beeped inquisitively at Ben.

"He needs a babysitter."

Artoo let out a long, blarting beep.

"You've got one probe. That's enough."

There was a longer beep.

"Fine," said Ben, scooping up Grogu again as the little child squealed in surprise. Ben stomped out of the library. Grogu made a mewling noise in his ear, and Ben understood he was hungry. "You're always hungry." He sighed and carried him to the dining facility. Five days in a row, the padawans took turns making the meal for everyone. On the sixth evening, Uncle Luke cooked, and on the seventh, like today, they were all on their own. Ben tended to reheat soup or put a flatbread with handfuls of fragrant cheese atop it into the cookstove. As he stepped into the building, the smell of roasting meats hit his nose and his stomach simultaneously.

"Hi, Voe," he said, trying to keep his voice friendly. Voe's home planet was famous for its cuisine, and children were taught the secrets of sear and spice and sauté at an early age. She was busy making her own dinner. Ben swore he knew everything that they stocked in the colony's pantry, none of them more than simple basics, but somehow she always made it smell like the best restaurant on Chandrila.

She turned from her frying pan. "You know where the soup cans are." Not a surprise. He'd beaten her in hand-to-hand this morning, and she was still smarting from the insult. She always did. Voe had turned thirteen three weeks after Ben, and in everything else too, she was always coming up behind him, and he knew she hated it. The one thing she could do better than he did was making meals, and if he wanted any, he was going to have to beg.

"I'm not hungry," he said. "Grogu is. Aren't you?" Grogu made the same noise.

Voe's irritated face, the one she wore around Ben most of the time, softened. "I can make you a bowl," she said, very specifically to Grogu rather than Ben. He made another noise. "It's no problem. I put in an extra helping of col-beast. I thought you might want some." Grogu's ears tilted to attention.

Ben set him into the one chair they had from someone of such small stature. "Why don't I leave him here with you?"

Grogu made another series of small coos. Voe turned to Ben, irritated look back in place. "Why have you been trying to get everyone else to watch him for you?" She stirred the food in the frying pan. "It's your job, not mine."

"It's not my job either. Master Skywalker said he needed to be watched tonight. You're just as good a keeper as I am. Better," he added, with a shade of compliment. "You're a much better cook."

"Hennix is a much better cook than you and he eats his meals raw." Grogu cooed. "Yes, fine, but you like it when I add the seasonings, don't you?" She received a happy squeal in response. She spooned a healthy portion into a bowl, the liquid lumpy with large chunks of col-beast, and set it in front of Grogu. He took the bowl into his little hands and tilted it toward his mouth with every sign of enjoyment.

"I'll just go...."

Voe's spoon slapped onto the table beside him. "You'll stay until he's finished and you're taking him with you. I still have to clean up after I'm done."

Ben grumbled at her, then went to grab some soup. He splashed it into a bowl of his own, heated it in the insta-stove, and burned his mouth with the first taste. Grogu swallowed his own meal with happy abandon. Voe portioned out a bit for herself and sat beside Grogu, not looking at Ben as she ate.

There was a lot more in the frying pan than either would eat. A minute later, Ben found out why, as Tai and Hennix came into the dining hall. "Thank you," Tai said, placing a friendly hand on Voe's shoulder as he made himself a bowl before taking a seat next to Ben. Hennix went to the cold storage and selected a slab of nerf roast.

"Did he eat?" he asked, jerking his thumb at Grogu. Grogu looked up and waved his hand. "All right." He used a sharp knife to slice off a small portion of the meat and placed it into Grogu's bowl. Grogu stuffed it into his mouth, slurping the whole thing in as Ben watched, stomach turning. Hennix came to the table and sat between Grogu and Voe. "Where's Master Skywalker?"

"He had plans." Ben finished his soup.

Voe said, "Ben's going to try to get you two to watch Grogu tonight. Say no."

"No," said Hennix.

Tai laughed and took a bite of his dinner. "That could be fun."

For the first time since being handed the baby, Ben's hopes soared. "You mean it?"

"Of course." He chewed and swallowed, making an appreciative gesture at the chef, who grinned back at him around her own dinner. Other padawans wandered in, drawn by the tasty smells and headed for their own reheated soup, or worse, cold ration sticks. Tai said, "We can work with him on that new meditation Master Skywalker showed us."

Ben tried to remember. "Right. The one Master Yoda taught him." Uncle Luke had thought Grogu might be suited to something closer to typical for his species, whatever species that was. He finished his soup.

Tai said, "Can you take him to the garden? I'll finish up here and join the two of you."

Ben's words snapped shut. Tai was supposed to take the little green baby off his hands. "Sure." He gathered his and Grogu's empty bowls and placed them in the wash bin, then reluctantly picked up his charge while Tai lingered over his stew and laughed at something Voe said, which Ben was almost sure wasn't at his expense.

"Come on," he said with mild annoyance. Grogu made a soft noise, disappointed to leave their friends. "Tai's right. This will be easier away from everyone." He carried the child to the rock garden out past the last structure. Uncle Luke had built this early on. He'd said the spot was calming, and filled with the Force. Ben wasn't so sure but he did feel less restless when he came here. They all did.

Grogu wandered around the garden, using the Force to bring stones to his hand and examining each with a toddler's curious intensity. Ben sat, and after a moment, he dug his fingers down through the pebbles beside him, feeling their rough and smooth surfaces cover his hands. Overhead, birds called to one another, awake under both bright moons. A breeze made the leaves from the distant trees whisper together like thieves. Ben closed his eyes, allowing the discomfort in his stomach from his poor dinner to pass away, sent off and buried in the grounding of the stones.

"I see you're feeling better," said Tai.

Ben opened his eyes as his friend sat next to him, reaching out his hand to Grogu. The child's tiny green fingers rested inside his huge palm, and Tai smiled. Tai always found things to smile about, which was unfair because Ben always seemed to find reasons to frown, crouched inside his robes in his own marinated sulks.

"You're mad because you're hungry." Tai's voice stayed mild. "If you'd apologize to Voe, she'd make enough for you, too."

"I thought we came here to meditate."

"We did. I was making an observation." He held out his other hand to Ben, who paused before taking it. Tai's hand was huge compared to Grogu's, but was small against Ben's touch. The Force hummed in a gentle flow between them. The serenity of the garden, and the presence of his best friend, eased the growing tension in Ben's mind.

"The Force is in all things," Tai recited. Grogu made a noise, as though saying the response.

Ben said it for him: "And we are in the Force."

Uncle Luke had walked them through this once, showing his students how to reach out to each other, and in that connection, find the Force surrounding them. But Dorn was busy giggling at a joke Hennix had told a few minutes before, and Sala had been making big eyes at Jacen again, who preened back at the attention, and Ben had already been irritated and grumbled at him, and Voe had shushed them as though she were trying to pay attention and be more important than they were. Uncle Luke had cut the class short, Ben remembered now, and had made them all go for a run.

It was nicer tonight, here with just Tai and the smallest member of the school, and both moons glowing high over their heads. They went through the steps of the meditation together. Tai's presence had always calmed him, and one of Grogu's powers was to cast a similar field around himself, compelling those near him to peace and protectiveness.

When they finished, Ben lay back, despite the uneven bumps of the stone under him, and stared up into the brilliant sky. Moon shadows drifted across them, tiny clouds blocking one, then the other, sending the world into rippling shades of black, white, and crisp gray, hiding shapes and colors, lying to the eyes as the distant leaves hushed their false promises into the ears. A lover's night, Ben thought, and didn't know why he thought it. His mind drifted, and reminded him why he was babysitting Grogu. Uncle Luke was out there somewhere tonight with Grogu's dad, and they were probably having sex.

His face turned into its more familiar frown and he sat up.

"You were feeling better," Tai said with a sigh. "I suppose a few minutes is still a welcome rest."

"I feel fine." He turned his head to Grogu, who had started playing with the rocks again, stacking them atop one another in a precarious pile. "Don't do that."

"He's fine." Tai reached for Ben's hand and squeezed it. "Do you want to talk about why you're upset?"

"I'm being forced to babysit someone who's older than my father. I could have been doing anything else tonight."

"You could have. I was hoping we'd have a chance to come out here and practice this together. And here we are."

Ben let out a scoff. "I guess." Even in the duplicitous moonlight, he could see the hurt growing on Tai's face, and he found a "Sorry" inside his mouth, and spoke it.

Tai looked up at the moons. "You know, I've always thought Kaysa is a bit jealous of Lemnos."

Ben followed his gaze. "They are rocks spinning in space. They don't get jealous."

"Don't be so sure. The Force is in everything. I can feel the pull of it between us and the moons, and if the Force is in them, there's more than just rock. Lemnos is brighter and fuller all the time. Kaysa's smaller and dimmer, except right before she sets, because Lemnos sets first. Then she's the brightest thing in the sky for a while."

"Rocks, Tai."

Tai ignored him. "I think Lemnos gets jealous of Kaysa's time alone. He's so used to being the bright one, but every evening, she has her own hour without him, while he never gets to shine by himself."

"I'm going to make you read an astronomy reel when we get back."

"But we're lucky. We get to watch both of them, and we know they're both beautiful up there."

Grogu had stopped his play and was staring into the sky as Tai spoke. He reached out one hand, and for a moment, Ben had the terrible fear he would use the Force to tug at one of the pretty, bright rocks in the sky. The last thing any of them would see was Kaysa's crater-pocked landscape growing to fill the whole sky before the collision.

Nothing happened. Grogu looked at his hand, then at one of the rocks in his pile. The little rock zoomed into his clutch, and was popped into his mouth. Ben instantly reached over and shoved his finger into Grogu's mouth, dislodging the stone before he swallowed it. "Idiot," said Ben, but he smirked in amusement as he said it, and Grogu grinned back with the sweet evil grin of babies everywhere.

Tai stood and offered Ben his hand to stand. "We should get back."

Ben picked up Grogu. "It's almost time to put him to bed?" he said with more than a little hope.

"He doesn't seem tired to me." Ben had to agree. "But if we go back now, you can apologize to Voe. You should also apologize to Dorn for what you said to him yesterday. He's still mad at you, too."

Ben had to think back at what he'd said to her. "Fine."

"And you should apologize to Jacen."

"No."

"You may not have another chance. He's leaving in a few days."

"Good riddance." Ben jostled Grogu as they walked.

Tai sighed. Ben was used to that noise, even if it annoyed him, like Tai was doing him a favor by putting up with him. "I'd prefer you to come to this understanding yourself, but there isn't enough time. You're jealous of him, and you need to let that go."

Ben turned. "I am not. I'm far more powerful than he is. Everyone knows it."

Tai wouldn't be budged. "Yes. Your innate powers are stronger than anyone else's here except Master Skywalker. Of course we all know that. This isn't about power. You envy the fact that he doesn't stay here with us for more than a few months at a time, that he gets to go off with his family while you stay at school."

"My uncle's here."

"Yes, and you love him, and he loves you, and I think that's helped you. But you're still sad every time Jacen leaves with his mother, and you don't get to leave with yours."

Ben drew Grogu closer. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Perhaps. But I know you've been impossible to live with ever since he told us he was going off to flight school. He's going to finish up his studies here and go off for good. He'll be a pilot somewhere instead of a Jedi."

"Which is a stupid choice. Anyone can be a pilot. I'm a fantastic pilot."

"I know. And part of you wishes you were the one dropping out of Jedi training and flying off into the stars, and you see this boy you've known for most of your life who's never been as good as you at using the Force, who's never been as special as you are, but he gets to go live a life you wish you could. And you're jealous, and you're angry, and you've spent the last month acting like a raging kriffhead to everyone else around you because of it." Tai's tone stayed mild, even through the swear.

Grogu burbled in his own private language, and Ben understood him enough to know he agreed with the description "raging kriffhead."

"Fine," he said, kicking a stone in his path as he walked. "I'll apologize to Voe, and Dorn, and Jacen. Happy?"

"You may want to spread it out," said Tai. "If you apologize to all of them one after the other, they'll think you've been diagnosed with a terminal illness."

Ben caught the laughter lurking under the serene tone. He let out a huge, false sigh of his own. "I suppose you'll want me to apologize to you next."

"No need. I always forgive you instantly." Tai stepped ahead, darting just out of reach before Ben could reach out and punch his arm. "Meet me in your cabin in half an hour. Bring Grogu." 

Mystified, Ben nodded. He looked down at Grogu, who stared back up at him expectantly. "All right. Voe first. Then we'll see."

Two apologies later, and dreading the third enough to put it off until morning, Ben made his way to his own cabin, his charge still tucked in the crook of his arm. He thought Grogu would get heavy after a while, but he never did. The child nestled comfortably against him, light as down and witness to Ben's unwilling groveling to his friends.

His room smelled good. Tai had cleared off the small desk and set it with plates and round containers of Ben's favorite fizzy drinks. A flatbread piled high with cheese and meats and a tangy sauce sat steaming on a large plate, cut into slices and waiting for them. "You seemed hungry," said Tai. "And Grogu could use a snack." He handed Ben a plate, and helped Grogu into a comfortable spot on the chair with his own plate of food.

Ben looked down at his second dinner, which looked and smelled far more appetizing than his first. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Tai around a bite of his own portion, gooey cheese stretching from his mouth. Ben grinned at the sight, and sat on the floor next to him, and ate. 

It was well past midnight when the tap came on his door. Ben yawned and looked up as Uncle Luke poked his head in. "Ben?"

Grogu was asleep in the bed. Tai had fallen asleep against Ben's shoulder as they'd sat on the floor and talked half the night.

"I can take him," Luke whispered, but Ben waved him off. His uncle's expression changed, looking at the sleeping child, and Ben's friend next to him. He was always warm and kind, but this was a special, tender smile just for Ben. "All right. If you change your mind, knock on my door when you bring him back."

"I will," Ben mouthed. Then he closed his eyes, and rested his head against Tai's, and fell back asleep.


End file.
